A ten-tentacle salute to Whatacharacter, who alerted me to the fact that April 7 was the 100th anniversary of animation. And here's an image from that very first film, Humorous Phases of Funny Faces:

Update: Ah, now we have a controversy over whether or not it's just the 100th anniversary of American animation. Whodathunk whether or not a film was animated would be in question, but it is. Well, it's nice to see something that's more complicated than it first appears, rather than less; it satisfies the evil genius in me. And can you imagine what it was like 101 years ago? Because the idea of un-animated Americans is what I think of as a contradiction in terms.

And now some stuff from Windsor McKay, because he was also an early animator, and dude was way twisted, yo. Word. McKay, most famous for his Little Nemo series, produced a masterwork of early interactive journalism with his Dreams of the Rarebit Fiend. The premise was simply this: after eating something as cheese-laden as Welsh Rarebit, people tend to have vivid, strange dreams. And "Silas" as he was known, asked readers to send in their dreams, so he could illustrate them. It's an amazing gallery of the human mind. I'm not sure if the differences between these dreams and my own reflects the differences between individuals or the difference between times. Buy the book (reissued, thanks to a Seattle small press) and check it out for yourself.

And more of same:

You getting the idea? Traaaaaast me, the dialogue is twice as twisted as the images most of the time. The scathing "Cannibal Meat Trust" episode was particularly memorable. And now for more of same: